The Malay language has many words borrowed from Arabic (mainly religious terms), Hindustani, Sanskrit, Tamil, Portuguese, Dutch, certain Chinese dialects and more recently, English (in particular many scientific and technological terms). It has been said that there are only a handful of true Malay words such as "Batu"(Rock). Some examples follow:
* aksi - action (from Dutch actie)
* almari - cupboard (from Portuguese armário)
* bahasa - language (from Sanskrit bhāshā)
* bandar - town (from Persian)
* bangku - stool (from Portuguese banco)
* bendera - flag (from Portuguese bandeira)
* bihun - rice vermicelli (from Hokkien bi-hun)
* biola - violin (from Portuguese viola)
* boneka - doll (from Portuguese boneca)
* buat - do (from Sanskrit wuat)
* buku - book (from English)
* bumi - earth (from Sanskrit bhumi)
* cawan - cup (from Mandarin cháwǎn)
* dakwah - sermon (from Arabic dawah)
* duka - sadness (from Sanskrit duhkha)
* dunia - world (from Arabic dunyā)
* falsafah - philosophy (from Arabic falsafa)
* garpu - fork (from Portuguese garfo)
* gereja - church (from Portuguese igreja)
* gratis - for free (from Portuguese)
* guru - teacher (from Sanskrit)
* had - limit (from Arabic hadd)
* huruf - word character/letter (from Arabic ḥurūf)
* jawab - to answer (from Arabic jawāb)
* jendela - window (from Portuguese janela)
* Khamis - Thursday (Arabic al-khamis)
* kamus - dictionary (from Arabic qāmūs)
* kapal - ship (from Tamil kappal)
* katil - bed (from Tamil kattil)
* kaunter - counter or desk (from English)
* keju - cheese (from Portuguese queijo)
* kemeja - shirt (from Portuguese camisa)
* kereta - carriage, car (from Portuguese carreta)
* komputer - computer (from English)
* kongsi - share (from Hokkien kong-si 公司)
* kuda - horse (from Hindustani kudh)
* limau - lemon/orange (from Portuguese limão "lemon")
* maaf - sorry (from Hindustani māf "forgiveness")
* maha - great (from Sanskrit)
* makmal - laboratory Arabic
* mangga - mango (from Portuguese manga)
* manusia - human being (from Sanskrit manuṣya)
* mentega - butter (from Portuguese manteiga)
* mee/mi - noodles (from Hokkien miᴺ)
* meja - table (from Portuguese mesa)
* misai - moustache (from Tamil meesai)
* miskin - poor (from Arabic mishkin)
* muflis - bankrupt (from Arabic muflis)
* nujum - astrologer (from Arabic al-nujum)
* nanas/nenas - pineapple (from Portuguese ananás)
* paderi - priest (Christian) (from Portuguese padre)
* pau - bun (from Hokkien pau 包)
* pesta - party (from Portuguese festa)
* pita - ribbon (from Portuguese fita)
* putera - prince (from Sanskrit putra "son")
* raja - king (from Sanskrit rāja)
* roda - wheel (from Portuguese roda)
* roti - bread (from Sanskrit roṭi)
* sabun - soap (from Arabic)
* sains - science (from English)
* sama - same (from Sanskrit)
* sekolah - school (from Portuguese escola)
* sengsara - suffering (from Sanskrit saṃsara)
* sepatu - shoe (from Portuguese sapato)
* serdadu - soldier (from Portuguese soldado)
* syariah - Islamic law (from Arabic shāri`ah)
* syukur - thankful (from Arabic shukur)
* sistem - system (from English)
* suka - happiness (from Sanskrit sukha)
* tangki - tank (from Portuguese tanque)
* tauhu - beancurd (from Hokkien tao-hu)
* tarikh - date (from Arabic tārīkh)
* teh - tea (from Hokkien tɛ)
* teko - teapot (from Hokkien tɛ-ko)
* tuala - towel (from Portuguese toalha)
* tukar - to exchange (from Portuguese trocar)
* unta - camel (from Hindustani ūnṭ)
* utara - north (from Sanskrit uttara)
* waktu - time (from Arabic waqt)
* zirafah - giraffe (from Arabic zarāfah)
Some Malay words have been borrowed into English. See the list of words of Malay origin at Wiktionary, the free dictionary and Wikipedia's sibling project.
Malay language has also heavily influenced the forms of colloquial English spoken in Malaysia (Manglish).